Six mental health-focused research communities from across the GW4 Alliance universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, have been awarded Development Awards following on from the GW4 Mental Health Research Network’s first networking and bid development workshop, held in Bristol last September (2024).
Attended by around 100 researchers from across GW4, the workshop sought to address the pressing challenges facing mental health research by encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue and the development of innovative projects.
Researchers were provided with a dynamic platform to exchange ideas and identify new research avenues, with participants exploring a range of themes including the neuroscience of mental health, the mental wellbeing of young people, and the social and environmental factors that contribute to mental illness. Participants then had the chance to discuss and refine their ideas, with the option to apply for a GW4 Development Award.
These small awards of up to £5,000 support the development and progression of GW4 collaborations by funding a single activity or resource. They can be used for a variety of purposes, such as enhancing collaborative relationships, seminars, community workshops, or public engagement activities.
A total of nine applications were received, with six projects awarded funding following a rigorous assessment process. The projects bring together a total of 68 individual investigators, alongside nine external partners and collaborators.
GW4 Health and Wellbeing Manager, Dr Claire Spreadbury, said: “The aim of the GW4 Mental Health Research Network is to bring together the collective expertise of our member institutions to unlock innovative solutions that can make a tangible difference in addressing pressing mental health challenges.
"I’m extremely proud that, following our first bid development and networking workshop, we’ve been able to fund six Development Awards. We look forward to seeing the impact these activities will have on the outcomes and next steps of these research projects.”
The successfully-funded Development Award projects are:
Exploring Pathways to Children and Young People’s Mental Health
Principal Investigator (PI): Jennifer Allen, University of Bath
The aim of this project is to better understand pathways to mental health outcomes from childhood to late adolescence/early adulthood. This will help identify the timing and targets of prevention and intervention initiatives, with potential benefits for children and young people and their families, mental health researchers, health, social care, education and legal practitioners and services, and policymakers.
GW4 Mental Capacity, Risk and Autonomy
PI: Jeremy Dixon, Cardiff University
The challenges of balancing safety against autonomy (in the Mental Capacity Act) when protecting adults with care and support needs from harmful influences or dangerous behaviour have been recognized by the Court of Protection. However, there isn't always agreement on how services should reconcile these two sometimes contradictory imperatives.
The aim of this project is to combine the network’s collective expertise to rapidly understand the research landscape on balancing autonomy and safety for people with mental health problems in social care settings, and to use this to work towards better understanding and practice.
GW4 Nutriomics for Brain Health
Co-PIs: Karolina Dec and Jeremy Hall, Cardiff University, Rebecca Carnegie, University of Bristol
It is well known that poor nutrition may contribute to development of chronic diseases like ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric diseases. The foods we eat play an important role in regulating many processes including brain development, mood and cognition. In other words, a healthy, balanced diet supports a healthy brain.
This project aims to develop a world-leading research collaboration to explore the pathways between nutrition and mental health, by linking experts in genetics, epidemiology, and cellular neuroscience, with particular focus on the role of omega-3 fatty acids in psychiatric disorders.
ReproWell Research Network
PI: Gemma Sharp (University of Exeter)
Reproductive and mental health are intricately and intrinsically linked, but the relationship is under-appreciated and under-researched. The overarching aim of this project is to use innovative digital methods and molecular data to address pressing questions about the intersection of women’s reproductive health and mental health at different life-stages from adolescence to menopause.
Living Human Brain Tissue Network
PI: Michael Ashby, University of Bristol
Every day in hospitals across the South West region, patients undergo surgery to remove pieces of their brain as part of their treatment, mostly for cancer or epilepsy. In most cases, much of the tissue that is removed is simply discarded because it is not required for clinical reasons. This excess brain tissue, which usually includes some healthy access tissue, is a unique and hugely valuable resource that could underpin new research into the workings of the human brain.
Through a series of meetings, transport tests, a pilot study and the creation of online collaboration and dissemination spaces, this project intends to coordinate and align ethics clearance, establish proof-of-principle for live tissue transport, and demonstrate viability to create a biobank of genetic material from brain tissue.
Enriching cognitive tasks with behavioural measures for mental health (ECoBeM)
PI: Aline Bompas, Cardiff University
This project aims to create a new network of researchers who use behavioural or cognitive measures (e.g. questionnaires, assessments and tasks) to help understand or characterise mental health dysfunctions. Currently the methods used to collect these types of data can be time-consuming or require particular training, while many have a tendency to be unspecific, unsensitive and lack repeatability. These limitations are holding back the field of behavioural and cognitive dysfunction research, and this community brings together key people to answer the problem by identifying and driving solutions and improvements.
Upcoming GW4 Mental Health Research Network Events:
The next one-day GW4 Mental Health Research Network Workshop is due to take place in autumn 2025. Please keep an eye out for further details on our website and social media channels.
Interested in joining the Network?
If you’re a staff member researching mental health or helping to develop mental health research activities at a GW4 Alliance university, and you are interested in signing up to the Mental Health Research Network, please register to join via our online form.
The aim of the GW4 Mental Health Research Network is to bring together the collective expertise of our member institutions to unlock innovative solutions that can make a tangible difference in addressing pressing mental health challenges.
I’m extremely proud that, following our first bid development and networking workshop, we’ve been able to fund six Development Awards. We look forward to seeing the impact these activities will have on the outcomes and next steps of these research projects.”
